In 1951 the Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi began to design the Akari Light Sculptures, a group of works handcrafted out of washi paper that eventually comprised over 100 luminaires – table, floor and ceiling lamps. He chose the name 'akari' for these objects, a word that means 'light' in Japanese, connoting both illumination and physical lightness.
'The harshness of electricity is transformed through the magic of paper back to the light of our origin – the sun – so that its warmth may…

The oeuvre of Japanese-American artist and designer Isamu Noguchi is unusually multi-faceted, ranging from the fine arts to industrial design. Since 2002, Vitra has produced re-editions of his designs in cooperation with the Isamu Noguchi Foundation in New York.